


Atlas

by poetroe



Series: Into Darkness [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Idiots in Love, True Love, Valentine's Day Fluff, Wii Sports, but also every other day of the year fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-04 08:39:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: Adora looks at it for a bit with sleepy eyes; the way the light catches onto the white hairs of her arm and how it looks as she slides it over to hold Catra’s darker skinned hand, that lies relaxed between them. In a while, the light will turn and fall on her girlfriend’s face and undoubtedly wake her up, Adora thinks. Moving as silently as she can, she pulls her phone loose from the charger and snaps a picture.Detective Catra and vigilante Adora are living together and in love. These are fragments of their life.





	1. Breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> can y'all really blame me for wanting to write more in this universe? this is going to be a collection of domestic fluff about catra and adora's lives after the events of into darkness (i feel like this should go w/out saying but please... read that first lmao). it's completely self-indulgent. also the poem is what inspired the title, i hope u guys enjoy!

Atlas

 

_There is a kind of love called maintenance_

_Which stores the WD40 and knows when to use it;_

_Which checks the insurance, and doesn’t forget_

_The milkman; which remembers to plant bulbs;_

_Which answers letters; which knows the way_

_The money goes; which deals with dentists_

_And Road Fund Tax and meeting trains,_

_And postcards to the lonely; which upholds_

_The permanently rickety elaborate_

_Structures of living, which is Atlas._

_And maintenance is the sensible side of love,_

_Which knows what time and weather are doing_

_To my brickwork; insulates my faulty wiring;_

_Laughs at my dryrotten jokes; remembers_

_My need for gloss and grouting; which keeps_

_My suspect edifice upright in air,_

_As Atlas did the sky._

 

UA Fanthorpe, from _Safe as Houses_ (Peterloo Poets, 1995)

***

It’s early in the morning. Quiet and serene, though the sounds of the cars of the earliest commuters make their way through the closed window, indistinct and muffled. Sunlight streams through the open curtains and falls on Adora’s beige bedsheets, warming up her arm where it lies on top of it. They must have forgotten to close them again, last night, she thinks. Adora looks at it for a bit with sleepy eyes; the way the light catches onto the white hairs of her arm and how it looks as she slides it over to hold Catra’s darker skinned hand, that lies relaxed between them. In a while, the light will turn and fall on her girlfriend’s face and undoubtedly wake her up, Adora thinks. Moving as silently as she can, she pulls her phone loose from the charger and snaps a picture.

 _Forget Aurora_ , she types in a private message to her girlfriend, _my sleeping beauty is called Catra_. She attaches the picture and a self-indulgent smirk nestles on her face as Adora presses send. A chaste kiss on Catra’s cheek and Adora is making her way to the bathroom.

Early mornings haven’t been hard for her ever since she enrolled in the police academy and started being serious about life. Back then, that meant a serious work-out schedule, eating enough veggies every day and getting up at regular times. And ever since then, Adora has kept with it. Though Catra has made it a habit to get her to stay up late, Adora can’t help but wake up as early as she did when she was still a cop. Her body moves on autopilot as she thinks about that life, some of the cases she worked as a detective and her partnership with Catra (most of all how far away that seems, now), all while getting dressed and making coffee.

It’s kind of strange how fast things can change, Adora wonders as she eats her cereal and glances at the front page of the Bright Moon Herald. “She-Ra stops five robberies in one night,” it reads, right below “Trade embargo lifted”. She glances over the content of the piece, recalling the streets she’d been on the night before as she sees their names printed in clear, bold letters. Then a hand slides over her back, coming up to curl around her shoulder, and a pair of lips press a kiss against the side of Adora’s face, next to her ear.

“Good morning,” Catra murmurs in her morning voice, soft and slightly scratchy. “Did you make the front page again, oh, great and powerful She-Ra?” She chuckles into Adora’s ear as Adora rolls her eyes and turns the page.

“You say that like I only stop crime for the fame,” she answers as her eyes return to the page. Catra continues laughing as she moves away from Adora and to the kitchen, pouring some coffee into a mug.

“Don’t you?” she grins. It’s infectious and Adora grins back as she continues eating her cereal.

“At least I’m not the biggest show off in the Fright City police department,” she replies, before taking a sip of her coffee. Catra joins her at the table with her own mug and some toast with jam.

“Not anymore, you’re not,” is her retort. Adora snorts at the crumbs that fall from the corners of Catra’s mouth as she says it.

“Right, right. Not since you went undercover and got yourself shot,” she counters, before continuing on in a softer tone. “How’s your stomach feeling, by the way?”

“’s fine, ‘dora,” Catra mumbles with her mouth full. She washes it down with a big gulp of coffee. “I don’t even use the painkillers anymore.” Her hand finds her abdomen unconsciously and she scratches at it a little, over her t-shirt. Adora bites down on her lower lip softly.

“Still, are you sure you should be getting into work so soon?”

“What do you mean, ‘soon’?” Catra says with a raised eyebrow. “It’s been two months!” Adora averts her eyes and shrugs. Maybe she is being a little overprotective. Or maybe she’s just going to miss having Catra at home, available to her every second of the day and always just a touch away. “Don’t tell me you’re going to miss me,” Catra continues as a lazy grin spreads on her face, like she read her mind just now. Adora can feel a blush coming on. She finishes her cereal quickly and stands up.

“I’m not,” she says airily as she rinses the bowl and the spoon under the tap, before putting them in the dishwasher. “Although, it’ll probably get boring without you here to annoy me.” Catra chuckles and follows her to the kitchen.

“You say that like you don’t love it when I do,” she mutters as she leans her hands on the counter on both sides of Adora, effectively trapping her. By force of habit, Adora’s hands find their place on Catra’s sides. She leans in.

It takes the littlest amount of effort for Adora to cross the already limited distance between them and lock their lips in a kiss. She pulls Catra a little closer against her as she feels a warmth uncoil in her belly and spread all the way through her limbs, to the ends of her toes and the tips of her fingers. Catra kisses back softly and Adora sighs into it.

“Be careful today, okay babe?” she mutters against Catra’s lips. Unconsciously, the fingers of her left hand find the small, round scar on Catra’s lower back. Catra seems to sense Adora’s apprehension.

“Don’t worry,” she answers as she brings up one hand to hold Adora’s cheek and look into her eyes. The pale blue and hazel irises of her girlfriend are as captivating as ever, especially when they’re looking at her with this intense sincerity. “I’m going to be fine,” Catra says with a small smile and Adora can’t do anything but believe her. She leans forwards and presses another kiss to Catra’s lips.

“Okay,” she answers.

“Besides,” Catra goes on as she lets Adora go and wraps her hands around her mug again, “I already texted Rogelio. He says the new captain is going to have me on desk duty for at least a month.” Adora snorts.

“Do they know that might be worse for your health than actually having you put your life on the line?” she quips. Everyone who knows Catra, knows she can never sit still. Especially when there are cases to solve, criminals to catch and crimes to stop. Catra just shrugs as she puts on her leather jacket.

“If not, they’re about to find out real soon,” she says. Another smirk, another chaste kiss and then Catra is out the door, on her way to the precinct. The apartment settles back into a peaceful quiet as Adora sits back down at the table and turns to the paper again. Soft rays of sunshine are still falling through the kitchen window as Adora’s phone buzzes on the table. With a smile, she reads the message.

_Next time you can kiss me awake. I love you._


	2. Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is inspired by the weather the past few days! enjoy this chapter and the weather, if u can!

The freshly fallen snow crunches beneath her boots as Adora makes her way through the city. Everything seems wet and cold and her breath leaves her nose in little puffs of white. The snow on the side of the road has turned to a dirty slush of grey and solidify into grimy chunks of ice, soot and salt overnight. But the sidewalks, abandoned as they are, are a stark white; continually being covered with fresh layer over fresh layer of snow.

Adora glances over her shoulder and looks at the prints in the snow, left by her chunky boots. A small smile slides on her face as she turns her gaze back to the street in front of her and the dark grey clouds above, that are still releasing a whirlwind of white snowflakes on Fright City. Pushing her hands a bit further in her pockets and burrowing her face in her collar against the sharp wind, Adora keeps on walking home.

“Hey! I just beat your high score,” Catra says as soon as Adora steps in her apartment. She shakes the snow off her coat and stamps it off her boots as she answers.

“Oh yeah?” Adora says, a little preoccupied with stripping off the layers she’d put on to protect against the harsh winter weather. When her coat is up on the coat rack and her boots are on their place next to Catra’s worn out Nikes, Adora gets a look at the tv screen in her living room. “Wait, you’re doing Wii Fit?”

“Hell yeah,” Catra answers, from where she’s standing on the balance board, Wii remote held tightly and resolutely as she selects a game from the screen. “Watch this. While you were at work I’ve perfected the art of the ski jump.” Adora chuckles as she sits down on the couch and watches Catra bow her knees with perfect form as the little Mii version of her slides down the ramp with a breakneck speed. “Hey, do you want to play tennis with me?” Catra asks after she’s done and has proudly shown off her four starred high score in the rankings.

“Sure,” Adora smiles. “With me or against me?” Catra scoffs, like the answer to that is obvious.

“With you, duh,” she says as she throws Adora a second remote. “Come on, I want to show Matt who’s boss.”

“Okay,” Adora answers as she goes to stand next to Catra and bumps the remote against her shoulder. “But you better wear the wrist strap. Or, you know, you could take your chances and buy me a new tv when things go sideways.” Catra rolls her eyes with a dramatic sigh and wriggles her hand through the grey strap.

“Happy now?” she asks with a pout. Adora quickly glances out of the window overlooking the street. The snow is still coming down heavily. Her eyes glide back to Catra, who is selecting their Mii’s on the screen.

Adora smiles. “Yeah.”

 

The whole city is dark when She-Ra trudges through the four inches of snow that have fallen tonight. A brief look at her watch tells her it’s getting closer to two in the morning and Adora sighs, a cloud of thin mist leaving her mouth. The weight of her sword is digging into her shoulders where it rests on her back and the tiredness of another night of crimefighting settles in her limbs, making them heavy and her movements slow. The thought of getting to crawl in a soft, already warm bed next to her sleeping girlfriend is all that makes Adora turn the last corner and walk the last few steps up to her apartment building, in favor of just collapsing down in the snow and resting for a bit.

Adora tries to be as quiet as possible when she closes the front door behind her and puts the sword away, but then she sees there’s still a light on in the kitchen. She takes off her black hoodie as enters the living room, which is bathed in the dim yellow of her kitchen light. There, sleeping on the couch with a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders, is Catra. A soft smile takes its place on Adora’s face as she puts the hoodie down and sits down on the edge of the couch.

“Hey,” she whispers, laying a hand on Catra’s shoulder and shaking her gently. “Did you fall asleep waiting up for me?” Adora asks when Catra blinks her eyes open.

“You’re late,” Catra answers with a pout as she sits up and, really, that’s enough of an answer. Adora basks in that warm feeling that only Catra can ever seem to induce in her and smiles apologetically at her partner.

“Sorry,” she says, “Horde goons were really into running away from me, tonight.” Catra chuckles shortly.

“It’s okay,” she mutters as her hands find Adora’s sides. She’s only wearing a tank top now and it’s chilly in the living room, but being held by Catra Adora has never felt cold. “I just wanted to be the first person to wish you a happy birthday.” Especially when she keeps saying things like that, Adora thinks as her cheeks heat up and a feeling of weightlessness settles high in her chest. Feeling happy and tired and totally in love, Adora nudges her face against the skin of Catra’s neck, pressing kisses there and working her way up until her lips find her girlfriend’s. “So, I made you some hot chocolate,” Catra says after they break apart. Her bicolored eyes flicker to the kitchen before focusing on Adora again. “Since it’s so cold out. That has probably cooled down by now, though.”

“Want to go warm it up?” Adora asks. Catra raises her arms above her head and stretches languidly, her shirt lifting up with the movement and showing a bit of her tan, slightly chubby stomach and the white scar tissue of her shot wound.

“Yeah,” Catra says as Adora stands up. Tangling their fingers together, Adora leads them to the kitchen. “You can consider that your first birthday present.” Adora grins.

“First?” she asks innocently. Catra mirrors her grin and quickly puts the mug in the microwave, before sidling up real close, leaning in to whisper in her ear with a mischievous grin.

“Oh yeah,” she purrs. “The first of many.”

 

The sun has found Fright City again for the first time in weeks, but what feels like months, of clouds in various shades of grey and rain in various stages of freezing. It’s uncharacteristically warm for this time of year, actually. The past two days have been filled with clear, blue skies and sunshine. It really feels like spring, Adora thinks with a content smile as she walks through the city. There are as much cars as ever, but for the first time in months there are people hanging out outside, to enjoy the warmth or take in a little bit of sunshine after the drab, cold winter they’ve just endured.

Adora takes the long way to the precinct, the way that will take her past a florist. It’s completely cliché but Adora can’t help herself and buys a single rose.

“Hey, Cat,” she greets Catra as she walks up to her partner’s desk in the bullpen. It’s quiet at the department and her girlfriend is buried deep in a report, so she jumps slightly as Adora greets her and immediately holds out the rose.

“Adora, what are you doing here?” Catra asks, surprised. Adora just shrugs and hands her the flower.

“Can’t a girl bring her girlfriend a beautiful rose on Valentine’s Day and ask her out to lunch?” she answers. The smile on Catra’s face is instant.

“Hold on,” she says as she jumps up from her office chair energetically. “Let me put this in water, then we can go.”

When the rose is sitting in Rogelio’s ‘best dad’ mug with some water on Catra’s desk, they’re off. Adora gets them some sandwiches and coffee to go before grabbing a hold of Catra’s hand and leading her to the park closest to the precinct. They sit on a bench in the sun, arms touching, looking over the park and the pond situated in the middle of it. The trees and the bushes are still bare, but in some places on the grass tiny, purple flowers have already sprouted.

“Look,” Adora says, pointing at the flowers. It’s kind of crazy to see them here, the heralds of the spring, when the last snow of the season had fallen only last week.

“They’re eager this year,” Catra remarks. She nudges Adora. “Kind of reminds me of someone else I know.”

“Shut up,” Adora laughs, squinting a little against the brightness of the sun to look at Catra. Catra giggles back, then closes her eyes and tilts her head backwards to soak up the sun, content to simply sit back for a moment. Adora briefly debates doing the same, but ends up just holding Catra’s hand and watching everything. The birds fluttering from tree to tree, the vibrant green of the grass and the deep blue of the sky above, the warmth of the sun; paralleled only by the warmth of Catra’s hand in hers.


End file.
